2008.07.31
Discuss Thursday's editorials
Getting real on graduation
Virginia now can track students well enough to calculate real graduation rates and is looking to incorporate them into accreditation standards.
Virginia is considering adding a high school's graduation rate to the state's accreditation standards, a logical next step in public school accountability.
It's a step Virginia can take because it now can measure graduation rates with an unheard-of degree of accuracy -- a significant technological advance.
There's a lesson in the tax holiday
Lawmakers can sell any bad idea if they say it is for families.
This year, more than most, the commonwealth's shoppers might appreciate the back-to-school sales-tax holiday that takes place this weekend. That does not make it any less a pathetic pander from lawmakers.
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"Businesses, too, take a financial hit. Stores have to adjust their registers for the program, and many of them feel obliged to offer tax breaks on more than just the mandated items. They pay the taxes out of their own revenue."
That seems odd since business were the ones lobbying for the law. Acoording to the Washington Post:
"Businesses had pushed for the tax break for years, arguing that Virginia retailers lose customers to North Carolina, Maryland and the District, where annual tax holidays result in a burst of cross-state advertising."
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/171343
How many businesses did you interview for this editorial?
Comment by Josh — July 31, 2008 @ 11:20 am
You know, when I read the teaser for the tax holiday article, I withheld comment thinking you might actually have some legitimate issue.
I should have known this was just going to be more of the same old tired liberal rhetoric about how the government needs people's money more than the people do. Or, as the second verse of the refrain goes, no tax break is a good tax break, so let's raise taxes.
It really is no wonder the Times is foundering economically, with the dunderheaded economic positions the paper takes. This isn't about diverting voter attention, it's about keeping retail dollars in Virginia. I'm surprised you didn't claim that the tax holiday is unfair to the poor or minorities.
Comment by C Ramsey — July 31, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
I also wonder if it's accurate to say the government is losing $4 million as the result of this holiday.
Stores commmonly use "loss leaders" to lure customers to the store where they might spot more profitable (for the store) items. Why wouldn't someone coming in for pens and notebooks also buy maybe a thumb drive, a couple of video games, or an MP3, all taxed in full?
Comment by Josh — July 31, 2008 @ 11:27 pm